By Yael Banai | Human Resourse manager
The National Educational Resource Centers
Children learn a great deal from activities and frameworks outside the formal school setting. Consider, for example, how much is learned from informal activities between children and parents. It is generally parents who open up new worlds to discover and explore. Through their eyes, children come to understand and see the world out “there”. In settings that are entirely informal, such as at the dinner table, or in everyday contact with parents and family, children learn about the social and cultural milieu in which they live.
Most of us take for granted this informal learning which shapes and forms our very being. But most children living in residential group homes have been deprived of this informal, parental enrichment. They are the products of dysfunctional families, and the conceptual world these children inhabit is strikingly narrow and two-dimensional.
At the National Educational Resource Centers runs by "Yeladim - fair chance for children" in 60 residential group homes all aroun Israel , the children come into contact with a world of rich experiences, stories, games, music and social activities, all accessible through colorful kits developed by professionals. Through these activities, children learn basic life skills (i.e. The ability to express their wishes and feelings, through dealing with issues of daily life, prevention of violence, physical and emotional protection), and encounter with art, world knowledge, science and nature.
The National Educational Resource Center operates a professional website, containing more than 3000 files which are categorized by subjects such as: game kits, educational worksheets, work and leisure pages , stories and more. The site also includes enrichment materials on arts and culture: repertoires containing dozens of performances in theater, dance, music and enrichment workshops. Group homes are invited to choose four shows per year. About a third of the materials on the site translated into Arabic. The site is dynamic and fresh, it enjoys an average of 18,000 unique hits per month and approximately 224 008 unique hits per year. Other than the Residential Group Homes, its users are education professionals worldwide: schools, teaching seminars, day clubs, youth groups and more.
The Education Resource Center program is accompanied by a steering committee with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Social Affairs and educators from the Residential Group Homes.
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By Yamit Shannon-Mizrahi | Resource Development Manager
By Yamit Shannon-Mizrahi | Resourse Manager
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